Raw network television news outtakes of Democratic New York senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy arriving at (0:02) and speaking before (1:22) a post-midnight victory rally for his win in the Nebraska preference primary, "Youth for Kennedy" headquarters, Sheraton-Fontenelle Hotel, Omaha, May 14, 1968.
The cameraman only captured parts of the rally for use in short news broadcasts, which is why the video cuts in and out, but he did memorialize the former U.S. attorney general standing with his wife, Ethel, thanking campaign aides (1:33).
*THANK-YOUS*
This apparently includes U.S. Davis Cup captain Donald Dell, who the cameraman zooms in on after RFK gestures towards him (2:15, right). Dell's holding up a paperback copy of RFK's book "To Seek a Newer World" (New York: Bantam-Doubleday, 1967), his political manifesto: www.biblio.com/book/seek-newer-world-kennedy-robert-f/d/1547030287.
*JUBILATION*
According to the New York "Daily News," "Kennedy and his wife Ethel paid a post-midnight visit to the headquarters. ...
"As they pushed their way through several hundred enthusiastic youths, they were greeted by a steady loud chant of 'Go, on for Oregon.' Kennedy got another wild cheer when he held up two fingers in the V-for-victory sign.
"Perspiring freely in the sweltering room, Kennedy told his volunteers that the Nebraska outcome 'makes a major difference in our campaign'" ("Daily News," 5-15-68, 3).
United Press International reported that RFK's 51-to-31 win over Democratic Minnesota Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy, the insurgent peace candidate whose unexpected challenge to President Lyndon B. Johnson helped compel him not to seek renomination, "brought unrestrained jubilation at the senator's [RFK] headquarters."
*BITTER RIVAL*
It also brought "predictions by key Kennedy aides that McCarthy was finished as a 'credible candidate'" ("Tampa [Fla.] Tribune, 5-16-68, 6-A), a prognostication that proved to be far from true.
Instead, McCarthy, who had long been resentful of the popular Kennedys, not only held on, but he also hardened his campaign into a vehicle that seemed more intent on destroying RFK's than in actually winning the nomination.
*PROFILE*
Two weeks after the Nebraska win, a columnist for RFK's chief hometown paper profiled Dell's involvement. "In March," it began, "Donald Dell began riding two long shots -- Bobby Kennedy and the United States Davis Cup team. For Dell, the utopian daily double payoff would be Bobby in the White House in January welcoming home a victorious American team and the Cup rescued from four years captivity in Australia.
"Dell, a 29-year-old Washington lawyer out of Yale and Virginia Law, was one of the first to enlist in the Kennedy crusade when Bobby announced. Two weeks earlier he had accepted the Davis Cup captaincy, hopeful of transforming a gang of losers and returning the U.S. to first place in tennis. ...
"Before his campaigns are over Dell will have traveled America and the world to the point where he feels like a migratory bird with insomnia. ...
*ADVANCE MAN*
"'It will be more than worth it,' says Dell, who comes from Bethesda, Md., and in 1961 ranked fifth nationally in singles. 'This is beyond all of my dreams -- being the cup captain and working for a man like Kennedy for the Presidency at my age. ...
"'My job with the senator is as an advance man. I go into a territory ahead of him and get things organized for his appearances, meet the local leaders. My men and I take care of arrangements for press, housing, transportation, etc., and I do some speaking.
*SOUL BROTHER*
"'As soon as the senator announced, I was on a plane to Los Angeles, to Watts, to get his tour of the ghetto arranged. I was well received there -- they believe in Kennedy -- and they put a badge on me that said 'Son of Watts.'"
This referred to the Sons Of Watts Improvement Association, whose membership was from former local gangs. It provided security for RFK during his campaign visit on March 25, 1968: ua-cam.com/video/I2kU8Fc307w/v-deo.html.
"Dell," the profile continues, "blue-eyed with a lot of neatly combed brown hair, doesn't look like a soul brother, but as an emissary of Bobby he was accepted. 'I got my experience by being an advance man for the senator in 1964 when he was campaigning for other candidates.'" (He apparently failed to mention that he also did this when RFK barnstormed the U.S. on behalf of Democratic candidates during the 1966 midterms.)
*PROTOCOL OFFICER*
"'We're old friends through Sargent Shriver, my former boss when I was with the Office of Economic Opportunity. Shriver got us together for tennis. Bobby loves the game, and I try to play with him as much as possible these days. It's good for him...during this strenuous campaigning.'...
"If Dell can stay cool while the enemy fires shots past his athletes, he may wind up as White House chief of sporting protocol in charge of the tennis court" ("Boston Globe," 5-29-68, 39).